Borneo Adventures Pt 2 – Brunei

I have wanted to visit the Sultanate of Brunei since 1977 when I was planning my first trip back to the UK from Hong Kong. At that time the Sultanate was still a British Colony but for some reason I never did get around to including it in my itinerary. So here we are some 34 years later and this time I was definitely going to visit - in fact it is one of the reasons that I booked this particular cruise. It is P & Os very first visit to the Sultanate so a little bit of an adventure for us all – even the ships crew.

The title of today’s excursion was “The Tempurong Experience” and it was to be a full eight hour day. It started off leisurely enough with a 30 minute coach ride into the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. I am not certain that any of us were actually prepared for the next segment of our journey which turned out to be a 50 minute speed boat ride way into the depths of Brunei. Each water taxi carried 20 persons and because of the speed of the vessels we all had to be inside – in actual fact we were all hanging on in sheer terror as the boat careered along tipping up on its side as we went round every bend in the river.

I managed to capture something of the journey on a little camcorder which considering that I am terrified of being in small boats very near to the water line is a miracle in itself. The extent of the tilt was far more obvious as we looked out and saw our fellow companions in their taxis careering along either in front, behind or to the side of us. Goodness - whatever possessed me to book this tour !!!!!

We reached our destination safely enough but as we clambered out of the speedboat my legs were shaking like jelly.

After a short coach ride we arrived at an Iban Longhouse where, after taking off our shoes, we were allowed inside to watch a display of traditional dancing. One of the village cats decided to join us and stretched out lazily in the middle of the floor enjoying all the attention. We were then treated to tea & coffee with local delicasies – spicy sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves or bright green jelly like coconut sweets. The rice was OK but the bright green sweets were so delicious that I went back for seconds ! I then went for a little wander around the back rooms of the Longhouse and found a lady preparing beans for lunch. The kitchen shelves were crammed full of jars, implements and pots making my own kitchen back home look empty in comparison. I asked if I could take her photo and she kindly agreed.

When it was time to leave the whole village came out onto the verandah to wave us off. I noticed that one of our tour guides was busy taking photos of us with a whole variety of cameras and I think that these were the villagers cameras. It felt strange being on the other end of the lens but I smiled to think that we were just as much an attraction to them as they were to us.

After another short coach ride we reached a jetty where longboats were berthed. This time we were instructed that donning lifejackets was ABSOLUTELY essential as these boats are renown for tipping over and throwing their passengers into the murky waters!!!!!!!! What was that I had heard about possibly seeing crocodiles today ?!! Each longboat carried 5 – 6 people and getting in was an art in itself. This had to be done very carefully and very slowly to avoid tipping the craft on its side and spewing out those already seated inside. Once in and seated it was then a matter of finding the centre spot to keep the craft level. I was the fifth person to board our particular boat and Jane – a lovely lady with cerebal palsy – was then guided into the front seat. It took about 15 minutes for our whole party to embark in their boats and then we were off. This was no more a gentle ride than in our speedboat taxi for once under way we sped off down the river through the mangrove swamps. This was all well and good but I was even nearer the water in this craft than I had been in the taxi. I tried my best to get my little camcorder to work but my hand was quite literally shaking with terror. I had no idea whether I was capturing anything or not. But this was nothing in comparison to what was to come. As we sped further into the jungle we noticed an ominous movement in the water ahead of us. Oh my God – we were approaching rapids!! Before we could even scream out in fear we were careering over and through them with the boat bumping about all over the place. I might add that by this time there was also a couple of inches of water lapping around my feet. The longboat cruise lasted about 45 minutes and during that time we crossed many sections of rapids and learned that the only way to deal with them was to cling onto the sides of the boat for grim death – and pray !!! I might add that at the end of this segment there were quite a lot of rather green faces. Somehow or another I had survived one of my worst fears and felt exhilarated at the achievement. My inspiration actually came from a very elderly lady named Joyce whose legs are very shaky and not as strong as they once were. She told me she would crawl into the boat if there were no-one around willing to give her a helping hand – how could she miss such an experience as this. No way at all. One evening I had sat and listened to her story about when she had met the Guerillas in the Congo many years ago and how she had sat with her back against a sturdy tree so that she would not flinch so much when the silverback charged – as it was bound to do. What a lady – what a life.

Lunch by the side of the river under the shade of the jungle trees was very welcome. Local curry dishes followed by fresh water melon and papaya – all washed down with chilled soya milk. DELICIOUS.

We also had the 50 minute journey back from Tempurong to BSB in the speedboat water taxis but this was easy peasy after our experiences of the day. What an incredible adventure this cruise is turning out to be – and there is still Bali, Makassar, Borobadur and Singapore to come.

Borneo Adventures Pt 1 – Kota Kinabalu

I was again up at dawn in order to see the sun rise up behind the mountains of Borneo and after breakfast made my way into Kota Kinabalu. Life in this part of the world does not start until 10am so the local people were still at breakfast as I wandered happily around the streets. The aroma of spices filled the air as stalls and shops began to open their shutters . Quite by chance I found myself in the City Park and rested for a few moments in the shade of the lush green trees. This is the tropics and it was excessively hot even at this early hour. When I set off again I chanced upon China Town and took some interesting photos depicting the end of Lunar New Year with piles upon piles of red lanterns stacked up in a temple. Next it was down to the harbour where I was offered trips in boats to see the water villages – I declined and headed for the local market instead. The smell of raw meat and poultery in a sultry hot climate is not to be recommended so I quickly hurried on to the fruit and veg section. Here I found punnet upon punnet of green and red chillies, roots of ginger and spices galore. Mangoes were piled high in pyramid shapes, whilst bunches of green bananas were art forms in their own right. The last section was full of clothes and jewellery and tourist items and was the most tightly packed of all. The alleyways between the stalls were narrow and the atmosphere was claustrophobic, however, I did manage to find some individual pearls which I need to repair a very old bracelet. It was then back to the ship for a rest before the afternoon’s organised excursion.

“Colours of Borneo” was the name of the tour and it did not disappoint. First stop was a pottery factory where most of my fellow cruisers stopped to watch a demonstration. Not ever being one to follow the crowd I headed off into the back shacks and was able to take wonderful photos of pottery in the various stages of manufacture. The natural colours of the clay with the contrasting sunlight and dark shade made for some incredible pictures. A young couple were busy filling moulds and were delighted to give me my own personal demonstration of how plates and mugs are produced from moulds. I asked if I could take their photo and they were overjoyed that I should want to and insisted on seeing the photo once taken. What lovely gentle friendly people the Malays are.

Next stop was a batik factory where we all had to try our hand at batik painting – mine was an absolute disaster !! High tea was provided here consisting of flat bread with curry sauce – absolutely delicious. I took a cup of tea but was none too certain what it would taste like. It was a deep brown colour and had a rather thick consistency. I tentatively took a sip ready to gulp it down in disgust – but hang on a minute. What was that sweet taste? Could it be chocolate? Somehow or another I found I was drinking chocolate tea - again absolutely delicious.

After a short rest I wandered off around the area and found a perfectly heavenly scene of a translucent silver sea lapping gently onto a white beach. At one end near the coconut thatched sun shades drift wood had collected which again made for some beautiful photos.

The journey back to the coach was by flat bottomed longboat. What an experience gliding through the mangroves in Magical Borneo.